Samantha Dols
American University, School Of Communication, Graduate Student
DJ Screw, born Robert Earl Davis, died too young to see the music that he invented (and to which he gave his name) become the globally celebrated musical genre it is today. Chopped and screwed music, which began as a local Houston hip-hop... more
DJ Screw, born Robert Earl Davis, died too young to see the music that he invented (and to which he gave his name) become the globally celebrated musical genre it is today. Chopped and screwed music, which began as a local Houston hip-hop subculture, distributed physically via mixtapes at parties and local brick-and-mortar retail establishments, has now become a widely recognized genre embraced and emulated by pop stars and promoted by major record labels. While DJ Screw and his creative partners in Houston’s Screwed Up Click are now far more widely known than they were before his death at the turn of the century, their legacy has a monodimensional and even pejorative aspect to it — one in which the music has become a sonic marker of drug abuse, and a symbol of the degradation and decadence of the “Dirty South.” In this article, we aim to broaden Screw’s legacy, and to valorize the politically resistant aspects of chopped and screwed music, by illuminating the articulation between hip-hop as a political art form and the rise of the “slow media” as a global counterhegemonic movement.
Research Interests: Southern Studies (U.S. South), Neoliberalism, Hip-Hop/Rap, Music Industry, Temporality (Music), and 14 moreTemporality (Time Studies), Hip-Hop Studies, Temporality, Hip Hop and politics, Music and psychedelic drugs, Hip hop, Hip Hop Culture, Houston, Slow Media, Slow Movement, Mixtapes, Workers' resistance, Chopped and Screwed, Drugs and Music, and Race and Music
Medellín, Colombia continues to attract global recognition for its evolution from a crime-saturated and desegregated city to an award-winning paragon of innovation. Two innovations in particular, the Metro System & the Integral... more
Medellín, Colombia continues to attract global recognition for its evolution from a crime-saturated and desegregated city to an award-winning paragon of innovation. Two innovations in particular, the Metro System & the Integral Urban Projects, have fostered and contributed to Medellín’s inclusive growth, as indicated by a corresponding increase in both social and economic capital. Through a mixed methodology analysis of these two experiences, including participant observation, in-depth interviews with different industry leaders, and household surveys, this thesis explores the extent to which inclusive innovation has contributed to inclusive growth in Medellín. The surveys were distributed to three sensitive neighborhoods of Medellín and apply a Synthesized Framework for measuring inclusive growth, one that includes five indicators for social capital and five indicators for economic capital, emphasizing the importance of progression in both dimensions. By drawing on concepts of inclusivity surfacing more frequently in business lexicon and the emergence of a newly branded Medellín, the findings of this thesis indicates that the implementation of innovations in association with a unified city vision practiced by the local government, corporate and non-profit sector has contributed to achieving inclusive growth, and has left civilians hungry for more.
Research Interests:
This essay offers a new lens through which to view the challenge of intergroup conflict-the human imagination. As a way to build upon growing scholarship around the collective imagination in communication studies and public diplomacy,... more
This essay offers a new lens through which to view the challenge of intergroup conflict-the human imagination. As a way to build upon growing scholarship around the collective imagination in communication studies and public diplomacy, this study foregrounds the individual imagination and makes important, interrelated claims about its power. First, the author outlines three assertions: 1) the imagination is limited, 2) conflict arises as a result of the limited imagination, 3) there are ways to expand the imagination. Second, the author offers a visual of the imagination as a box, a kaleidoscope of experiences, exposure, and future/fantasy thinking. Third, the author introduces a framework called an opportunity of imagination and advocates for further exploration and experimentation of its use. This study provides an interdisciplinary story of intergroup relations with the hope that practitioners and scholars might be inspired to act imaginatively around the persistent challenge of human connection.
